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How "important" is it to get a Premium with the projector and TK multiball over the less expensive Pro model? I don't have budget for one now (just bought a Godzilla Premium) but I'm trying to make a list of machines to keep an eye out for in the future. The swipe-a-ball feature and TK in general sound cool, but from what I've heard the TK lock is often unreliable and I'm worried the projector may fail in the long run so maybe a Pro is the way to go? What do you guys think?

Thanks!

Has anyone had luck disabling the ramp? I need a new board that is unfortunately out of stock to get mine working again. But in the meantime I thought I’d be able to disable the ramp or the targets and have the game ignore that feature.
It doesn’t seem to work that way though. If I disable the ramp, the game still expects you to shoot the demo, so you get stuck. And if you keep the ramp down you can’t make progress either.
Any suggestions or better yet does anyone have a 520-8418-00 dual driver board they can sell me?

I like my pro a lot. A few friends have LEs and they are great too. It’s a different experience.

I have a pro with a uv kit and the pinstadium stranger things kit and I like it a lot (picked up the pro for the reasons you mentioned and the price difference. That said, I haven’t played a premium (I’m a bit scared to). People say the projector takes it to another level and you can turn off the tk lock if it’s a problem… but it will be almost twice the price of a pro

the gameplay on the pro is still solid, you only lose swipe-a-ball and some additional bonus modes during TK multiball. (it is a little weird that if you don't have the TK lock, you get the ball back clean on the left flipper by shooting that ramp, whereas if you have the lock and it works, you get 'penalized' with a sloppy plunge out of the shooter lane and into the drops that you then have to regain control of.) the TK lock on the prele is not trivial to dial in but it is a showstopper, especially with people that don't play pinball. at least in my case, once i took the time to diagnose/dial it in, it's been rock solid and the projector draws people in, as well, though there is that nagging thought about 'what if it dies'. the game really has that 'want to play it' factor, and then cool surprises like the demogorgon and the UV in the upside down really complete the package.

i do not think the prices the prele commands at this time are 'worth it', though. it's like the 3rd most expensive game on pinside RN behind BBB and like...Elvira's with the couch piece? i love how much the game has appreciated since i bought it but is it really worth two other premiums on its own?

Yeah, I've only played the Pro version of Stranger Things so far. I'd definitely want the UV but without trying a Premium in person it's hard to judge. Maybe eventually I'll find one in the wild.

I played a premium with a projector and tk lock, and had to have one. The projector and ball lock was just that cool. The wow factor is always there. Either way, pro or premium it's still a good game.

please disregard

I just joined the Stranger Things club. Yay!

I picked up a Pro version with a UV kit and pinstadiums. I’m really liking it so far. The only grip I have is that during the upside-down the pinstadiums are still on and the UV kit doesn’t turn on, so I don’t get the real UV feel.

Do you know if I can turn off the Pinstadiums during the upside-down?

I also asked this in the Pinstadiums thread, just in case.

If it's only a resistor or transistor that's out and not that surface mount chip, Borygard may be able to fix your board. Drop him a DM and see if he can. It's a pretty simple board, and he can fix node boards, so this may be in his wheelhouse and possibly faster than waiting on Stern.

So your saying the UV lights never turn on??? If that is the case, you might have to go into the menu setup to the ST configuration page and make sure the "UV-kit installed" option is set to "yes". If the option isn't set, then the uv will never turn on and the GI lighiting will stay on normally. Hope that's all your problem is. Also just noticed your in the Milwaukee area, me to, I'm in Greendale.

I have a pro and tried to play in a darker room. I love the mood of lighting but it def is a little dark. Kind of like Alien. WOuld like to add more light without pin stadiums. Anyone do this? Led strip in back clipped to a GI bulb?

I play in a darker room and have no problem . My Pro does have mirror blades fitted which may help throw more light around.

If they are the pinstadiums made for stranger things (uv) they look great and should be tied to the game uv I think. I have disconnected mine on and off because I think they are a pain every time I want to lift the playfield and one side is curved and keeps falling off the magnet strip but it does look much better when they are on.

I would take the pinstadiums out of every one haha

Topper NIB $580 shipped

https://pinside.com/pinball/market/classifieds/ad/146793

any thoughts on why the topper would stop working? My recent changes made were the Stern pull and the medisinyl mod.

Getting mine ready to list.
My g0d the projector is the single biggest upgrade of all time. It is unreasonably cool.

Does anyone know if the premium UV kit will install on the pro? Anything I should be aware of before I try?

Ots been done, I think the main difference os the apron is different so you need an extra bolt or something. If you search for uv kit in this thread you'll find a post about exactly what needs to be done.

Yeah, I have a premium kit on mine. I think I just needed to fish out a couple apron screws from my spare parts bin, and maybe not use some hardware from the QR reader when swapping it over (if you have insider connect)

Check all the topper interface connections.

anyone installed trough lighting kit for apron? If so what color did you use thanks!

I would be interested in the Camaro if it ever becomes available again.

I've tried blue, red and purple. I have purple in there right now, but think it's debatable how purple it is, if at all. I like it because it's in-between blue and cool white. I also have a brightness reducer on there.

I thought I took a picture of the blue, but I can't find it.

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Pink t-molding to match the pink powder! $10 upgrade takes 10 minutes!

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looks like the wireforms on that $21,000 creech sitting on the marketplace

I bought a purple strip and found it wasn't purple enough, so I threw a purple color gel in front of it.

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It was probably overkill.

I went purple T-Molding as I’m going purple powdercoat but you have the right idea

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maybe LTTP but replacement decals are up on Pinballlife. Snagged myself 2x sheets as backup.

https://www.pinballlife.com/stranger-things-projector-screen-decal-set.html

Thanks everyone for the help. I got the UV working with the pinstadiums. I can see the great artwork on the playfield. Such a fun game.

Had my pro a little while now and have a couple of q's if anyone can help

1. Is there anywhere I can get a replacement demogorgon ramp? mine has a couple of significant dents in the lip

2. Is there anywhere I can get a replacement decal for under the left ramp?

3. My gate at the shooter lane exit hits the underside of the right ramp on one side, there's a little bit of damage on the underside of the ramp. Should I mylar there or is there a better solution?

4. Under tech alerts my pro says 'pro code detected on a premium'. It's definitely a pro! Why is that an alert?

5. Sometimes I get a few seconds ball save and I don't know why, do some modes have a ball save at the start? It's not at the start of ball or start of a demogorgon, multiball or mini wiz mode.

6. What's the easiest way to replace the post rubbers by the drops? I've only just replaced them as I had the ramps and everything off to do some other stuff but I'm guessing they will wear the quickest and it seemed a pain to get to them if you didn't already have everything off. Wondering if I'm missing an easy way.

Thanks for any answers!

Is the Spike2 CPU board the original with the game? Does the serial number in software match the cabinet serial number? The spike boards hardcode themselves to the the game code version the first time the board is ever booted up, thats how they lock out the hdmi projector output on pro models. I believe the only way it can be reset is to send the board in to Stern to have them clear the CPU and initialize to pro version code. Otherwise I think the game will play normally on pro code, just have the annoying error message. But I know there's a handful of guys that would love to have your board, so they can modify and add a projector on their pro models. If your curious about that, just flash a premium game code SD card, and plug in a hdmi to whatever monitor you have to see if your getting video output. If you do get video output, then it's possible to add a projector yourself if your handy enough.

I’d like to replace the rubbers on the posts either side of the drops but looks like way too much work to do it. Same with the rubber at the very back of the pops

Who sells the best decal when the ramp comes down? Thought I read some problems of wrong size or too big. I like the one with the mind flayer unless they have updated with any newer monsters. Anyone has extras to sell Lmk. Thx!

Nothing by default and no ball save for kickouts listed in the manual. Maybe an option added after the manual was released. Take a look in the settings or reset them.

Based on #4, you may have a "premium" CPU, which makes you very lucky! I will gladly swap you my pro CPU so you don't have to suffer with that error

I’m unsure if the cpu is original, I wasn’t told it had been replaced but it’s had more than 1 previous owner so it’s possible the original either broke or one owner tried to add a projector. The number on the lcd on start up and the cab number do match though so I’ll have to try the prem code sd and hdmi to see if that does anything, could be a nice free perk I didn’t know about!

i have noticed that if you lock a ball on the TK lock and start a mode at the same time, if the ball coming out of the shooter lane doesn't validate that it reached the playfield by hitting a target, you will get that ball back. you also get re-started ballsave on add-a-ball and swipe-a-ball

I have another question.

There are times where my ball gets stuck underneath the Demogorgen ramp. After 15-20sec the game checks for the ball and eventually the ramp will raise up and the ball will come down, sometimes drains straight down the middle. Is there a mod or anything that can fix this, or is it normal?

nothing you can do about that, really. I hardly ever get a ball stuck under that ramp, though. behind the drops every few games or so is normal but hardly ever under the ramp. stop pressing the buttons to skip the animation while the ramp drops and the ball won't get stuck there

Keep an eye on the classifieds. Once everyone gets their Medisinyl Mods, I think there will blazers and camaros up for sale as the new mod takes up all the space in the back

was a broken ground wire. I jumpered it from the up post ball lock to the drop target coil and it works properly now. What is the best way to permanently fix the wire?

I ran a new wire and crimped the molex pins on to use the existing headers. I didn't undo/redo all of the zip ties to remove the old wire, just noted in the manual that I replaced the wire with whatever colored wire I used & zip tied that in places.

If it's obvious where it's broken inside the insulation from a hard crimp or damage, you can cut/splice/solder/shrink tube it. Otherwise new wire run.